By the way, about Iran and the nukes

So now there are reports about Iran and nuclear weapons. Am I surprised? Not necessarily, but the question now becomes largely of what to do in response. Unsurprisingly, Republicans want to act like their balls are bigger than the warheads and delivering ultimatums, which is what brings me to this from Rick Perry.

“We cannot afford to allow that madman in Iran to get his hands on a nuclear weapon – period,’ Governor Perry added.

Ignoring the general problem of always backing the already-nuclear Israel and its blowback effect in terms of other countries trying to arm up, the problem here is that Perry said this about Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Let’s get one thing straight: Ahmadinejad is the “president”, but the only people that pay much attention to him are Americans. The clerics are who wield the power; they can override any decisions he makes, and when combined with his severe lack of popularity in Iran, the only thing about him that Iranian citizens give a shit about are American politicians overreacting to what he says.

But let’s back up a moment. Imagine, for a moment, you’re the power in Iran. Right now there are American troops on either side of you (Iraq to the west, Afghanistan to the east), American politicians frequently make jokes about bombing your country, and said politicians have openly supported the one country in the region that would really like to use the nukes “they don’t have” on you.

It’d be like if China had invaded Canada and Mexico and also said they’d totally support Cuba if they ever felt like obliterating Washington. You can bet your ass every American politician would be HOWLING to start beefing up the armory.

So right now the choice is this: either have the conviction to say they’re a dire threat and propose complete military annihilation, or take the diplomatic route. That’s all we got. We can’t have people talking tough if they aren’t willing to back it up (left AND right), so it’s either that or seeking a peaceful route. I don’t really need to say which is likely the preferable option.